Osamu SHIMIZU and Kenshi HATANAKA
Abstract
It is necessary to examine data from a long]term perspective in order to understand
the history of large deep]seated landslides because they occur infrequently.
Using Kikai]Akahoya tephra(ejected in7300cal years BP)as the key bed, we investigated
the landslide history of Mount Wanitsukayama, Miyazaki, Japan, an area that
has old landslide scars. We dug42sites and determined whether the tephra layer
was observable in the soil profiles. Three types of soil profiles were observed:
type A contained air]carried tephra, demonstrating that neither landslides nor
surface erosion had occurred in the past7300years; type B contained a mixture
of tephra and other soil types, showing that the tephra has been reworked by
small shallow landslides in the past7300years; and type C lacked tephra, indicating
slope denudation in the past7300years. Most of the ridges are considered to
be long]term stable slopes because type A is widely distributed over them; but
some narrow parts of the ridges have been sharpened by old landslides, which
destabilized and disturbed regolith of the sharpened ridges, because type B
was found on the narrow ridges. Some landslide scars were found on the slopes
according to the detailed maps derived from a LiDAR survey. Mosaic distributions
of types A, B, and C over the middle area of the landslide were probably attributable
to non]uniform movements of slopes in the past7300years. Reactivation of this
landslide caused a debris]flow]triggering landslide and slope cracking during
a rainstorm in the year2005.
Key wordsFtephrochronology, history, landslide, slope stability, Kikai]Akahoya
tephra